1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to electronic positioning, and in particular, to determining apparatus position/location based on information received from other apparatuses.
2. Background
Wireless-enabled apparatuses have evolved past just being able to provide voice communication to a point where they may provide various functionality. For example, mobile wireless devices have become flexible computing platforms on which various applications may be implemented. In addition to the more straightforward communication applications such as voice, email, text messaging, etc., emerging apparatuses may be able to support various games, productivity applications, business applications, database access applications, etc. In addition, wireless-enabled apparatuses may be able to support apparatus location/positioning services.
In the case of apparatus location/positioning services, current implementations may rely upon combinations of specialized hardware and/or software resources in determining apparatus position. For example, dedicated hardware receivers may scan for global positioning system (GPS) signals that may be utilized to accurately determine apparatus location/position in terms of longitude/latitude. This information may be utilized by applications in the apparatus in order to display current user location on a map, to display points of interest around the current user location, to formulate a route from the current user location to a point of interest, etc.
The above location/position system performs well in certain situations, such as when high-end apparatuses are operating outside where they may take advantage of clear GPS signal reception and well-established map data. However, dedicated GPS receivers may occupy crucial space in already crowded apparatuses, and may place substantial burden on apparatus resources like power, processing capacity, etc. As a result, smaller apparatuses that wirelessly interact at a very basic level may not be able to support position/location services. Moreover, GPS positioning is not a viable solution for indoor location/position determination where interference caused by various structures and signal sources may make the signals unreliable.